Oil and Aubergines
Support the Abu Banat family in Gaza
Dear friends,
I wanted to thank you all for the warm response my book contract announcement for Wilderment: Creative Writing in the Time of Climate Change elicited last week—I so appreciate your interest in the project, and I look forward to updating you along the way. I also want to say hello and welcome to my new subscribers!
This will be a brief post here about an opportunity to make a significant difference in the lives of a family in ongoing crisis. I know many people are feeling overwhelmed right now and wondering what they can do to alleviate some of the stark injustices and violence that sickens the planet.
A little context: over the winter holidays, I joined with a small group of artists and activists based in Berlin (a couple of us are in the States) to take on the support and care for a specific family in Gaza: the Abu Banat family. Mahmoud Abu Banat left Gaza two years ago and has been living in a slum in Berlin and trying to channel any resources he can back to his family. In January, their family home was completely destroyed, and we helped gather emergency funds so the Abu Banats could travel to the north and find temporary shelter. They were able to purchase tents and other supplies to live without their house.
Since then, we’ve created a page we've been working on to organize more ongoing support for this family in ongoing crisis. Last week, one of Mahmoud's brothers arrived back to his family after having been held in an Israeli prison. He needs support to buy a tent for him and his wife as well as clothes, as their home has also been completely destroyed. They are in Beit Lahia, in Northern Gaza.
As many of you probably know, food and other necessities have been exorbitant for months now because of scarcity with aid being blocked (even after the ceasefire agreement). So even simple things like cooking oil, bottled water, and flour cost a lot. For people are willing and able to contribute to this family on an ongoing basis—the goal of this group I'm a part of is to provide ongoing patronage and relationship with this family, not just one-time donation—we set up levels of monthly giving that offer a sense of these costs of survival. For example, $5 might pay for one liter of cooking oil per month, and $10 might pay for 2lbs of eggplant/aubergines for the family monthly.
Personally, I see this opportunity as a wonderful and sober responsibility. It is the chance to give directly to a family in need who are suffering ongoing losses and tragedies that (I dare say) the people reading this newsletter can likely only imagine. I see my contribution not just as money, but as a materialized form of love, of spirit, flowing from my family (in our safe, cozy home with a full pantry) across the world to theirs.
So, I would be most grateful if you could share this giving page with friends, family, or other networks that you think might like to help.
With love and gratitude for all of the good work you’re doing out there in these times,
Sarah Rose